Rural homes can have a tougher sell

CHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-NewsNew homes for sale in the Lenker Estates development in Halifax.

Chris and Pamela Maurer just put their ranch house on the market.

They might have a long wait to sell it. Their home is in Halifax Twp., and homes in rural areas are taking longer to sell.

"We've had several people go through the house. One family had already moved in, in their hearts, but when they sat down and did the numbers, they just couldn't afford it," Chris Maurer said.

In the Halifax Area School District, homes remained on the market for an average of 77 days in 2008. That's a bit longer than the midstate average of 72 days. But only a handful of houses are selling.

Other rural areas are seeing a slowdown in sales as well. In nearby Millersburg, homes remain on the market for more than three months. Homes in Shippensburg are staying on the market for five months.

There are several factors in the housing slowdown in northern Dauphin County.

From 2000, when the Route 322 bypass at Dauphin was finished, housing sales increased substantially every year, said Carl Snyder, who sells homes in the area.

In August, business dropped off, Snyder said. Some buyers can't get financing, he said. "We're getting sales, but we're having trouble getting them to settlement because nobody can get mortgage money," Snyder said. "I bet I've had eight fall through since August."

Buyers with good credit, jobs, and down payments can get mortgages, real estate professionals and lenders said. Some who qualify for Federal Housing Administration loans can buy houses with down payments of 3.5 percent, said Fred Briggs, the president of the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors.

But some buyers seeking loans need down payments of up to 20 percent where they could put down 5 percent a few years ago, Briggs said.

The whole country is feeling the real estate crisis, but some of the areas hit hardest are places like Halifax Twp., said Mark Muro of the Brookings Institution.

Rural and outer suburbs were developed more recently, so buyers were more likely to use the creative mortgage options that caused the mortgage meltdown, Muro said.

Plus, people looking for homes want to be closer to their jobs because they fear high gas prices, Muro said. "There seems to be lingering deep concern about energy," Muro said. "That may have further depressed the market for far-flung housing."

The completion of the Route 322 bypass eight years ago shortened commutes to Harrisburg and lured some homebuyers to northern Dauphin County.

Once a commute is shorter, people take advantage of less-expensive homes in rural areas such as Halifax, said Tim Reardon, an associate director of the Tri-County Planning Commission, which is beginning a comprehensive plan for Halifax borough, Halifax Twp., Wayne Twp., Jefferson Twp. and Rush Twp.

"The hopes are that we can help that area manage the growth in the way they would like to," Reardon said.

Still, the Halifax population is declining. Since 1990, Halifax Twp. and Halifax borough have lost about 100 residents, according to U.S. census data.

"You're not seeing a lot of gain in housing," said Susan Copella, the director of the Pennsylvania State Data Center. "If people are building houses, more so than purchasing existing houses, then your existing houses would stay on the market longer."

The fact that houses are staying on the market in the Halifax area probably isn't a reflection of the school district, Reardon said. "In most of the school districts here, you can get a good education," he said.

Some buyers might have been worried about the possible merger of the Halifax and Millersburg school districts, said Doug Friedman, an assistant professor of marketing at Penn State Harrisburg. The Millersburg School Board voted to end merger talks last month. Buyers might have been "uncomfortable with uncertainty," Friedman said.

CHRIS KNIGHT, Of The Patriot-NewsWarren and Karen Chandler work on their new home, in Halifax Township.

He cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from housing figures in a small area. "Even a random fluctuation is going to be fairly dramatic. If you have two or three people deciding to buy a house or not buy a house, suddenly there is a big change," he said.

The housing ups and downs can't dampen the enthusiasm Warren and Karen Chandler feel for the split-level house they bought this month in Halifax Twp. They've been renovating every day.